Seaming your knitting - go to the driving range
I am not a fan of golf. I have nothing against the sport. In fact, it seems like a really great thing, out there walking around with your friends on a beautiful day. But we don’t like what we’re not good at, and I’m really bad at golf. I tried it. hit that ball right into who-knows-where. My friends said, “Keep your head down, “ and, :Hold your hands like this,” and lots of other well-meaning things. I wanted to try again. I wanted to hit the ball again and again until I got it right, like you do in tennis. But you see, golf is not tennis, and it was not my turn any more. I had to wait while the others hit their ball. Then we all had to walk around to see if we could find where my poor ball lay. Only then did, I get a chance to hit it again. Still bad. More advice. More waiting. More walking. More waiting. Maybe I’m just not patient enough for golf.
Strangely, however, I am patient enough to knit my own garments stitch by stitch. I was bad at first, but that’s the beauty of learning to knit. Mess up that stitch? It’s okay, there are plenty more stitches in the row. Don’t like the look of that row? Again, there are lots more rows to knit. One right after the other. No waiting.
And this, my friend, is why seaming is so hard. Seaming is like golf. You only seam sweaters, and you only seam them after you’ve knit all the pieces. Our first experience is maybe not so good, and even if we’re willing to try again, there’s all this knitting that has to happen before our next seaming opportunity. By then, we may have forgotten what we learned with the first seaming experiences, remembering only that it was painful and bad. As someone who hasn’t been on a golf course for more than 20 years, I can see why many knitters give up on seamed sweaters.
I was relating my golfing experience to my sons as they headed out to play 18 with friends. Johnny said, “You know, Mom, you could go to the driving range. Get a bucket of balls and practice hitting all day long.” Well…who knew? Just practice my swing without the waiting and walking. No pesky score-keeping to make me look bad and feel worse. What a concept.
We can do the same with seaming. Just take some of those swatches you have lying around, and practice seaming them up. They don’t have to be the same color. They don’t even have to be the same yarn. Just grab your seaming needle, a couple of swatches, and give it a go. If you don’t like how it looks, no worries. Pull it out and start again. You can practice your seams without having to knit a whole sweater. Without all the stress. It’s not a thing you’re trying to seam perfectly. It’s just practice, and the only goal is to learn. Do it as many times as you need. You’ll get pretty good at it. And the better you are, the more you’ll like it.
Who knows maybe I’ll try again this spring. Anyone know a good-looking golf pro? :-)
Until we can gather together again, keep knitting, and create something beautiful.
Warmly,
Ellen
6 Responses
Susan Dyer
January 19, 2021
Hi Ellen,
I actually don’t mind seaming. Having you and Gini there to provide assistance, goes a long way to keeping my confidence high.
Getting ready to start your online sweater class. Can’t wait!! Oh, and the golf — recommend good Golf Pro because form is everything in that sport and follow Johnny’s advice to head to the driving range.
As always, thanks for your knitting thoughts today,
Susan